SNOW HILL– Local leaders agreed to send federal officials a letter in support of a dedicated dredging vessel for Maryland.
The Worcester County Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to send a letter of support for a new dredging vessel to Worcester County’s federal delegation—Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Congressman Andy Harris and Sen. Ben Cardin. The decision came at the urging of Paul Ellington, the county’s lobbyist.
“I do believe it would help with the situation we have at the Inlet,” Ellington said.
While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has acknowledged that shoaling in the federal channels within the Ocean City Inlet occurs faster than maintenance dredging can keep up, in March the agency decided not to move forward with structural improvements. In the months since, local leaders have made an effort to highlight the shoaling issues in Ocean City.
During a review of legislative priorities this week, Ellington told the commissioners the issue had received some interest from federal and state officials as well as Gov. Wes Moore’s administration. While he said most of them understood the importance of dredging to keep the Inlet and channel navigable, he said there were differences of opinion on specifics.
Ellington said some of the plans and models related to the issue were questionable but stressed that shoaling was likely going to be an ongoing issue.
“The problem exists and it will continue,” he said.
Because there are currently only two aging dredging vessels that serve most of the East Coast, Ellington said a dedicated dredging vessel for Maryland could alleviate the navigation issues locally as well as navigation issues in the Chesapeake Bay. He suggested the commissioners draft a letter of support for another dredging vessel to send to Cardin, Van Hollen and Harris.
Ellington said the recent movement to have the Chesapeake Bay designated as a national recreation area could add to the case for an additional dredging vessel in Maryland.
“We could keep that dredging vessel very busy,” he said.
He reminded the commissioners that when there were issues like the ship stuck for weeks in the Chesapeake Bay last year, impacts were felt throughout the state.
“Those are things that constantly happen if we don’t do it differently,” he said.
The commissioners voted unanimously to send a letter in support of an additional dredging vessel to Worcester County’s federal delegation.
